CCCC Receives Major Gift from Cape Cod Five Charitable Foundation

President John Cox with CC5 President and CEO Dorothy Savarese holding the bank’s first installment of $50,000 on its $250,000 challenge grant. (CCCC photo)

The $3.7M renovation and expansion of Cape Cod Community College’s Nursing and Allied Health Program Clinical Teaching Laboratory and Learning Center moved much closer to reality this afternoon (Tuesday April 4, 2017) as Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank President and CEO Dorothy A. Savarese announced a $250,000 five-year challenge grant to the project. Made through the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation Trust, the funds must be matched to be received by the College, and Kathy McNamara, CCCC Educational Foundation Executive Director noted that the challenge has been accepted, and an aggressive fund-raising campaign is underway.

“Because Cape Cod Five is committed to the sustainability and vitality of the communities we serve, we are excited to partner with the CCCC in the expansion of their Nursing Program. The synergies and benefits are far-reaching and long term: year-round, well-paying career opportunities for our residents, resources for expansion of accessible health care and enhanced economic health of our region. We see this as an investment in the future and hope others will join in supporting this project,” stated Savarese as she made the gift presentation to the College.

College President John Cox welcomed the local bank leader and current Chairperson of the American Bankers Association, and expressed the College’s great appreciation for the gift, noting the critical importance of expanding the institution’s nursing and allied health programs now.

“The region’s aging population continues to demand more healthcare services. The chal­lenges of affordable housing and high relocation costs of bringing new nurses and other medical professionals to the Cape, have made expanding the CCCC Nurs­ing Program critically important. We are extremely grateful that the Cape Cod Five has joined Cape Cod Healthcare and other private donors in recognizing the need, and stepping up to meet it head-on and with great generosity. We look forward to making similar announcements. We have a very short window to complete this project, so that we can welcome an increase in our nursing class this Fall,” he explained.

CCCC Educational Foundation Executive Director Kathy McNamara warmly thanked Dorothy Savarese for the bank’s generosity and noted that it joined a very prestigious group of donors to date including Cape Cod Healtcare, Mrs. Maureen Wilkens, private foundations, and donors preferring to remain unnamed, who have succeeded in moving the fundraising goal well past its half-way point, with gifts totaling $1,913,000.

Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, Susan Miller explained how dynamic an impact the renovations and new equipment would make on vastly increasing the level of sophistication in knowledge gained by student nurses and others in the healthcare world, including: medical assistants, tri-level nurse assistants/home-health aides, phlebotomists, diagnostic technicians, and paramedics; all of whom will use various portions of the new facility.

Dean of Health Sciences, Social Services, Behavioral Sciences, Human Services, and Advanced Studies Susan Maddigan commented on how the new laboratory setting would allow one group of students to observe others going through a patient simulation with highly sophisticated digital manikins. The value of one group observing another, and then being able to sit together with faculty and explore every element of the exercise is enormous, she noted. In this environment students will truly internalize both the processes involved and the patient’s response. This is far more powerful than memorizing a “to do” or a “not to do” list.

Renovating approximately 5,200 square feet, the entire ground level floor of the North Building, will permit the College to:

Hire more faculty to maintain high standards and high student support;

Make program accessible from high school, (dual enrollment potential);

Nurture public/private partnerships, including CCHC;

Nurture the educational partnership with UMass Boston, with the ultimate goal of increasing Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN) attainment.

Currently, the CCCC Nursing Program has 64 full time day students, and 32 part-time evening students in its program. There are10 full-time faculty, with 17 adjunct clinical instructors. This past Fall, 242 students applied to enter the program, and 130 were accepted. The program graduates approximately 80 students in even-numbered years, and 64 in odd-number years. It admits a part-time evening class every two years, thus the graduate numbers fluctuate. The goal is to increase the total admitted to the program, in small amounts each year, until an additional 32 students per year (over current enrollments) is reached.

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